They waited for months for unemployment assistance. Anyway, I got a notification of evacuation

The first shock was that the water level rose outside the St. Pete Beach apartment, the car was flooded, and the paradise grill at work closed the shutter. Later, a competition in the state of unemployment assistance began.

Like hundreds of evacuated restaurant employees, Daniel Zerin and Makaira Zerin rushed to Career Sauce Hills Boro Pinasu, three days after Arashi, who supports employment and unemployment insurance.

They submitted the application every week, but the evacuees must repeatedly apply to maintain the qualifications to be assisted. The state’s regular programs are paid up to $ 275 a week for three months. This is sufficient to cover some of the invoices and food, but less than a couple’s rent of $ 2,500.

They waited for the money to arrive and applied for work and further disaster assistance, but failed. One month has passed. Then two more. Daniel took over the temporary work of mold restoration. Madeira Beach’s restaurant was adopted by Makaira, but after that he stopped reply to the message before the first day of training came.

When the Pinus County Official was given an evacuation notice in early January, the rent was over $ 4,000. They have not received a state of unemployment benefits in the state, the Federal Emergency Administration Bureau, or many other assistance or subsidy programs.

Pinus Beach Community is full of people who have lost their jobs in the storm and have been waiting for unemployment recognition a few months later. Sweet Brunet in Madeira Beach was sold in December because of unreasonable damage. Former owner Vicky Ferrari said that about three months after 16 staff lost their jobs, the country’s assistance was lacking.

Representative of the State Government Florida Commerce did not answer questions about how many applicants were provided in a few months after the storm. However, if she had not yet received the check, she contacted the agency’s help center and urged her to confirm the message sent to her account.

Rachel Arnou Richman, a professor at the University of Florida, suggested that long -term delays have suggested that the state program has fallen into a bottleneck. The bottleneck causes long -term economic issues for unemployed beach workers like Zerin and his wife, and must consider the decline in credit scores and eviction.

They once dreamed of opening their own restaurants. According to Zerin and his wife, the debt has been swollen over several months, and the credit score is too low to receive loans for small and medium -sized enterprises. They are probably preparing to evacuate in court while borrowing money from their parents to find a place to live away from St. Pete Beach.

“The mental state is quite bad,” said Makaira Zerin. “Because of this, I have to drop out of graduate school and probably not return for a long time. My life, which I have worked hard, has been completely rooted.”

The harsh monitoring of the pandemic era did not change much

In the Pandemic, the unemployment rate of the State approached 15 % during the pandemic, and the leisure and customer service workers faced the worst loss, and was criticized by Governor Ron Desantis. According to the Tampa Bay Times, Florida’s system was the second most slow in the United States for the early pandemic period. In August 2020, Desantis said that the system was designed to create a meaningless obstacle for workers.

In late 2020, state government agencies hired external companies to investigate why the state system failed. In 2021, the state council provided funds to update the insurance claim processing system to government agencies. The unemployment agency announced this year that the modernization of the system to support people seeking assistance is in the final stage.

The members of the Diet had considered raising the welfare limit of welfare benefits by 275 per week, that is, $ 3,300, in three months, but did not realize.

“This is not very useful to cover the cost of family living,” said Cindy Hado Loston, senior analyst at the Florida Policy Institute. “I’ve been modeling a program to provide as much as possible support as much as possible.”

For example, in Texas, workers are paid up to $ 591 per week for six months and more than $ 15,000 per year. More than one -fifth of unemployed are receiving national benefits.

Unlike the pandemic, the unemployment rate in Florida after the hurricane last year is less than 4 %.

But that doesn’t mean that the claim is easy. Florida has been delayed to other states with an important indicator of unemployed people who actually receive the state benefits. According to data from the US Ministry of Labor, about 9 % of Florida’s unemployed people received national assistance in the third quarter of 2024. The state ranked 52nd in the United States and fell below some areas.

The ratio of Florida was equally low in the first quarter of 2020, when the pandemic occurred. When the federal unemployment program, such as the US Relief Planning Law, began, rose rapidly, but sank in 2022 and 2023. At the end of last year, Hurricane hit some of the state, and the unemployment rate was the lowest since the pandemic. It started.

Not all unemployed people, such as those who have quit their jobs voluntarily, are not eligible to receive benefits. However, state authorities advertised unemployment programs to those who were affected by Arashi.

Arnoricman said that Florida’s authorities should prioritize unemployment insurance applications by hurricanes.

“If the business is closed or natural disasters have occurred (people lose their jobs), you may imagine that there is some emergency measure for such a situation.” Was told.

Arno Richman said he would like to strengthen the Workers Protection Law, which may be obliged to grant retirement allowances if wage workers are suddenly dismissed.

People working in family -run stores working on the beach did not have such a safety net.

Angry phone call, protest, and give up

In mid -December, Daniel Zerin received an uneven answer to the unemployment insurance application. The latest status was “no qualification”.

He quit his work in technology manufacturing in March last year, and soon took a new position on the Paradise Grill. State authorities focused on his decision to quit his job, not what happened in the beach, which lasted nearly six months.

He appealed to the state authorities over the phone and tried to claim his claim. He was rejected again and was told to appeal to another state committee.

He is not optimistic unless a lawyer will take his lawsuit free of charge.

Breden Darbin, a paradise grille chef, is also in the holding pattern. His status on the state website is displayed for several months as “on hold.” Even if Darbin calls an agency to ask questions, or try to correct potential mistakes, he has been holding it for hours.

Eventually, he stopped submitting files every week. He sold two boats and two fishing rods to earn rent.

“I’m used to the average American’s way, that is, the debt of a credit card,” he said, adding 100 points since Helen.

Bridget Robison, a self -employed artist at St. Pete Beach, has applied for disaster unemployment support, a federal fund for those who are not subject to normal unemployment programs in the state. She applied for the program through the Florida Unemployment Insurance Bureau.

Immediately after Helen, he received 20 calls a day before contacting someone in the agency. When I finally submitted the application, she logged in and got a terrible result. For some reason, the answer that I entered in the law was changed. She was considered ineligible.

Did she be affected by Hurricane Helen? She knew she had pushed her “yes”. But now it is written as “no”.

Next, the agent, who contacted by telephone, told her that it is a common problem that the system changes the applicant’s answer. She fixed and resubmitted mistakes to maintain qualifications as told.

The agency’s spokeswoman did not respond to questions to clarify whether Robison’s experience represents a common problem.

Until something broke in her, more than two months have passed without a check. Robison turned back while letting the adrenaline out. She was ate to the agent and asked to talk to the manager.

“I had to shout loudly by voice mail to get them silent about me,” she said. “I said,” This is cruel. “I have no income. I lose my car. I can’t eat myself.”

When she was finally approved in late December, her struggle was worth $ 944 for a few months, which was equivalent to half of the maximum benefits. She reported that she was not eligible to receive the full amount because she had filed three days in early December.

“I’m glad I got something, but it wasn’t what it should be,” Robison said. “This is a disaster. It’s not like this.”